Glock Trigger Reset

Many striker fired guns (such as Glock) have an interesting feature to them.

When the striker is in its operating position, and the trigger is fully forward you have quite a bit of travel until the trigger actually engages and fires the handgun.

However, after you fire the gun, if you do not let the trigger out fully and simply let it move forward enough to reset, the next shot is much faster as the trigger has very little distance to move.

This is called trigger reset – and is one thing I really like about Glocks – when you master the process, you can shoot much faster with more accuracy.

As the video demonstrates, all you need to do to experience this is to:

Clear your handgun

Remove all ammunition from the room you are dry firing the firearm

Visually and physically inspect the chamber to ensure the firearm is clear

While pointing the handgun in a safe direction, pull the trigger and keep it pressed all the way to the rear.

While holding the trigger, rack the slide

Slowly, and with your finger on the trigger, release the pressure until you hear (and feel) a click. This is the trigger reset. Once this click is heard the trigger is reset and the handgun can be fired again.

Dry fire the handgun while pointing it in a safe direction. Did you notice the difference in trigger feel and amount of trigger pull needed?

The Glock cycles at approximately 1200 rounds per minute – even the fastest shooter cannot manipulate the trigger anywhere close to that. The firearm will cycle before you have a chance to release the trigger, period. All you need to do to take advantage of this is to train yourself not to fully disengage the trigger and only release enough pressure to reset it.

If you do this you will be able to fire faster and with more control.

I have taught this for years, but the more I learn the more tools I have. I recently learned that Glock designed his pistol to function with this trigger reset even if the firearm had damage. If the “S” shaped trigger return spring breaks, or falls off due to improper install the firearm will fire using the trigger reset technique. As long as the slide cycles with the trigger held to the rear, the firearm will function. However, if the trigger is not held back, the trigger will not reset, and the gun will not fire.

No worries though, Gaston Glock thought of that too. If you do not use trigger reset and the trigger return spring is broken, to get the gun to work simply press the trigger rearward and cycle the slide.

Not everybody likes Glock firearms, just like some people don’t like computers. But anyone that has an open mind has to realize that a Glock pistol is very well designed – you might not like the reasons for some parts of the design, but the gun works exactly as it was created to.